


ULTIMA χ [key]

by rahelawriter



Series: Scions of the Seven Lights [2]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV, Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Adaptation, Angst, Angst and Tragedy, Apocalypse, Battle, Canon Universe, Character Death, Child Soldiers, Death, Drama, Dual-Wielding, During Canon, Fights, Gen, Harm to Children, Heavy Angst, Hurt, Hurt No Comfort, I'm Sorry, Keyblade War (Kingdom Hearts), Keyblade Wielders (Kingdom Hearts), Keyblades (Kingdom Hearts), Magic, Memory Alteration, Memory Loss, Near Death Experiences, Novelization, Original Character(s), Other, POV First Person, POV Original Character, Pain, Rescue, Soldiers, Spoilers, Trauma, Violence, War, Whump, for the Browser Chi ending, this is gonna be super dark i'm sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-12
Updated: 2018-12-09
Packaged: 2019-08-22 22:10:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16606385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rahelawriter/pseuds/rahelawriter
Summary: "On that fated land, a great war shall transpire.Darkness will prevail and the light expire."No matter how hopeless things seem, everyone wants to believe, to hold onto that last thread of their hopes and dreams until the very end.





	1. Prologue- Tolling of the End

**Author's Note:**

> The Fate of Stars is currently on hiatus because the next chapter is heavy with lore headcanons that may or may not be disproven with KH3; and since the release date is so close (AFTER THIRTEEN YEARS OF WAITING) I decided to work on this angsty little ditty. It was originally supposed to be a passage in chapter 4: a journal entry written by the Player Character of UX recounting their fading dreams of the Keyblade War, but then it grew and grew into a full-blown adaptation of the ending to Kingdom Hearts χ [chi], at which point I decided to make it its own side-story. This prologue is just a tiny taste of what I've got planned. Be sure you've taken the tags into account; I wasn't exaggerating.
> 
> (Also I apologize in advance to any Ursus players and fans of Aced who might read this.)

_"Behold... These lifeless keys used to be full of power–united with the hearts of their masters. On this barren soil, Keyblades of light and darkness were locked in combat... as a great Keyblade War raged."_

 

Dark storm clouds hanging in the sky above my head. Dry dirt crunching beneath my feet. The mass of thudding footfalls from the people around me. Some were my age. A few were older. Most were younger. Even though I was part of this gathering, I couldn’t find the same conviction in my heart like everyone else here could. My mind kept turning to everything that led up to this.

Thinking. About my actions, and if I could have done something to prevent this. Wondering. About Ephemer and Skuld, where they were, and what they were doing. Fearing. That this was the end for me, and everyone I knew.

Our marching came to a stop. The badlands beneath our feet seemed to stretch on forever, but I couldn’t see it. Beyond the crowd I stood with, choking the horizon, were the other Unions. And just as I knew that Master Ira was standing with our Union, I knew that the other Foretellers were standing with their own… Before all of this, before the Unions were formed, before I or any of us had ever even touched a keyblade, those that were gathered here were just normal people–normal _children–_ who lived normal lives in Daybreak Town together. How did it come to this, Union leaders leading their followers into a war…?

… No, we weren’t Union members anymore. We were soldiers. And this was the Keyblade War.

Our army, Unicornis, had approached this battlefield with Ira from the northwest. Anguis and their leader Invi stood at the northeast. To the southeast stood Gula and the members of Leopardus. Southwest, stood the comparatively small army of Ursus, led by the Foreteller widely believed to be the traitor tainted by darkness, and the chief instigator of this War: Aced. And from due north, the last army to arrive was that of Vulpes, with Ava at the van. I only caught a glimpse of her through the crowd, but the look on her face was that of a dead woman walking as she and her soldiers marched to the center of the battlefield unimpeded by the other four armies.

And the silence before the storm was deafening.

_I never even heard what the Foretellers were saying. What would happen next, right before my eyes… In this exalted wasteland, the air itself was oppressive and overwhelming to my senses, and every sight and sound burned itself into my mind. There was no time to even think about the battle, or why it was happening. These were nothing like the grotesque monsters that I’d been fighting up to now. No, the enemies standing before me now… They’d been my friends._


	2. Ibit in unum sumus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The darkness spread, swallowing the light and many people's hearts. It covered everything, and the world disappeared.

_No matter how hopeless things seem, everyone wants to believe, to hold onto that last thread of their hopes and dreams until the very end._

 

Everyone around me raised their keyblades, all of them letting out a battle cry that came together in a deafening roar. I watched my Union, my own party members included, charge forward into the fray without a second thought. All the movement in my vision blurred together until all was chaos, and I couldn’t tell who was what. They swung at each other, striking to kill. I stood there alone, unable to move. Over the howling wind and rain, I heard screams. Shrill screams. I watched in horror as a short wielder was enveloped in a blinding blast of light fired from another’s weapon. And at once, a tiny, gleaming, pink heart rose from the spot where their body should have been. A broken keyblade stuck in the dirt was all that remained.

Other skirmishes followed the same pattern. The younger and smaller wielders with weaker keyblades they were the easiest to pick off, so the older wielders chased them down. Aside from some of the veteran members dressed in armor colored according to their Union, I couldn’t tell who was from where. Everything went hazy. The flashes of powerful attacks. More tiny hearts fluttering away. Keyblades marking the graves of those who had fallen. The cacophony of clashing metal. Surging energy. The earth shaking. Children screaming. I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t stay on my feet. Fell to my knees.

_“This can’t be the end…”_

**“Defend!”**

The sound of a magical barrier being raised snapped me out of my daze. A hexagonal-patterned dome glimmered above me and its caster, just in time to stop a would-be attacker; their keyblade clashed uselessly against the barrier, and every enemy standing near its outer edge was blown back as the barrier exploded with an outward blast twice as powerful as the attack that detonated it. With the immediate danger passed, I looked up…

Standing before me, bright red armor stark and shining against the stormy darkness, ready to defend against any who might come to attack was none other than the famed Knight of Unicornis. An older (by comparison; he was still only seventeen) wielder who vowed to earnestly serve both Master Ira and the Union as a whole, and a widely-admired mentor and friend to all. Far too loyal to ever be considered for the Dandelions. He was main reason why I declined to join them in their escape from this horrible war. My party’s leader, and my very best friend… Haurchefant.

He looked around, searching for any other incoming threats. Once he judged it safe, he reached down and offered me his hand. I took it, letting him pull me to my feet. “Stay alert, my friend!”

Leading me by the hand, he pulled me towards a tall rocky outcropping that could provide cover. A cursory glance around was enough to tell that he and I were the only ones in view not engaged in a battle. I couldn’t see any of our other party members; two of whom were Haurchefant’s brothers. “Wh-where’s everyone else?”

“I don’t know. Artoirel and Emmanellain ran on ahead. I lost sight of them.” I could hear the tremor in his voice, and knew that it wasn’t from his running. Kneeling down behind the outcropping, we were out of the rain, and hopefully out of sight. But I still held onto his hand, wanting to feel its warmth.

All this time, I’ve been wondering if I should have told Haurchefant everything that I’d learned over these past few months, about the Foretellers, the Book of Prophecies, and the end of the world. But I knew how strongly he trusted in Master Ira; he was so sure that Ira had done all that he could to keep the balance between the five Unions. And that the other Foretellers, especially Aced, were to blame for the growing friction and rising tensions that lead up to this. But for the last few days, ever since Ira gave us the news that war had been declared, the normally enthusiastic Haurchefant had been quiet. And he was quiet now, too.

With his hesitancy, I wondered if he was having second thoughts. “Haurchefant, you’re not fighting…?”

A long silence. And then he rasped, “No. I thought I would be able to. But I couldn’t. I thought that every Union was supposed to be working together to defend the Light, and that the other four had gone astray by fighting over Lux. And that anyone rallying under the banner of Ursus was doing so to defend a man who has almost certainly turned to Darkness. But seeing this, _this..._ ” His body tensed, his breath becoming sharp, jaw set… I could see how he strained to keep himself together, to keep from breaking down.  

“Haurche…” I whispered, touching his arm, in some attempt to comfort him, and myself.

“I still believe in the teachings of light. And I still want to believe that Master Ira’s actions were in the right, but… He couldn’t have wanted this…” He bowed his head, silvery-blue hair falling in front of his eyes. “What light are we protecting this way…?”

He was having the same crisis of faith as I did before. But I realized, there was a degree of hope to find in his doubt. “So, you don’t want to fight? You’re staying behind with me?”

He shook his head, with more certainty this time. “I won’t fight. I’ll defend myself and you if anyone attacks, but…”

I leaned forward, looking him right in the eye, and whispered, “We should run.”

Drawing back, he exclaimed, “You’re saying we should desert?!”

“Listen,” I insisted, drawing even closer to him. “The Foretellers knew this war was coming, and that’s why Master Ava created the Dandelions. She tried to get me to join. She warned me that there would be no winners, and that this would be the end of the world. And only the Dandelions are gonna survive.”

It took a long moment for the truth of my words to sink in. “The end of the world…?” Voice hoarse with disbelief, Haurchefant looked around at where we were and what was happening around us. At the barren land. At the thundering sky, the howling gales blasting frigid rain nearly sideways. Children killing each other, led astray, into a senseless war begun by the people they were supposed to place their trust in. His shoulders sagged, and a soft, sighing laugh escaped him. “Ha… It does seem that way, does it not.”

“Yeah, but…” He looked to me as I spoke, and I grasped his hand tighter. “If we run now and go to join them, then we’ll survive too. We won’t have to fight or compete with other wielders, and we could mend the rift between the Unions. We could all rebuild the world into something better, working together and being friends…”

He went quiet, looking pained as he weighed his options. Quietly I remembered the ‘test’ that Master Ava subjected Skuld and I to at the Daybreak Town clock tower. It was then that I learned that my loyalty to my friends was far stronger than that of my Union, and that I would raise my Keyblade against Master Ira himself if he had hurt someone that I care about. Even though it was all an illusion, I was able to believe it, and I couldn’t so easily look at him the same way after that.

But Haurchefant had no such moment that had shaken his trust in our leader; for him, Ira was something of a personal mentor. He’d only ever spoken about it in vague terms, so I never learned the full story, but Master Ira had done something to save his life in some way.

“It feels wrong, to abandon our leader, our party…” His family… A heavy silence, before he raised his gaze and looked me in the eye with a strained half-smile. “… I’ll trust you, my dearest friend. But we must find Artoirel and Emmanellain before we leave, and see if they’ll come with us.”

Immediately came relief. He was willing to come with me. I had no idea how we would find his brothers in a warzone but I was so happy that it wasn’t an outright no. I stood up. “Of course. Come on.”

Haurchefant got to his feet, and I followed him out from behind the boulder. Looking to each other, we knew what the other was thinking, and nodded to each other in agreement: _Stay close._ We ran together, rushing back in.

But sprinting through the battlefield, Haurchefant a few feet ahead of me and blocking attacks with his barrier spells, I wasn’t sure if doing this was smart. There was no guarantee that we could find Artoirel and Emmanellain in all of this bedlam. And even if we could find them, convince them to leave with us, and all escape together back to Daybreak Town, I couldn’t imagine a practical scenario where things would go back to the way they were, as if all of this never happened…

… So, I let impractical scenarios fill my mind instead as I ran. Escaping this battle with Haurchefant and his brothers, we could run home to find the Dandelions and join them. I could finally introduce them to Ephemer and Skuld, and they and all the others could make friends. And we would work together every day to defend the light, but without all the Union rivalry that led to this. We’d return to base after every mission, and introduce the others to our party’s most beloved tradition: watching the sunset on the rooftop while we all drink Haurchefant’s famous sea salt hot chocolate… I know he’d love it too. And even though it probably wouldn’t happen like that, it was still something worth shooting for, wasn’t it…?

 

**“You!”**

 

I heard a booming, dreadfully familiar voice shouting, and stopped in my tracks a millisecond in time to avoid dashing myself headfirst against a wall of rock that had burst up from the ground in front of me. Finding myself trapped, I turned to the source of the voice: a hulking beast of a man, in tan robes robes and a bear mask…

“Master Aced…”

His teeth gnashed in contempt; clearly he remembered our confrontation from a few days ago. Pointing his jagged keyblade directly at me, he bellowed out, “Did I not tell you? You’re disqualified as a wielder!”

Whether or not Aced really was the traitor tainted by darkness that everyone said he was, I didn’t know. But what I knew for sure was that he seemed to bear a grudge towards me in particular, and wished me great harm. Even with hands shaking, I assumed a battle stance. I had to make it past him somehow.

“You dare to face me again?” A snort of amusement. His scowl turned into a wicked grin, and he shifted his grip to match my stance. “You’ve got guts. You’d have made a good follower of mine.”

At once the grin disappeared. With a roar, Aced lunged at me, swinging his keyblade downwards. I dodged just milliseconds before it could connect with my head, digging my heels into the dirt as I stuck the landing. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to get away unless I fought back.

Lifting _Starlight_ above my head, the blade began to glow. Bolts of lightning burst from the tip, scorching the air as they connected on Aced. They didn’t seem to phase him. He lunged, swinging sideways, aiming again for my head. I ducked, diving and rolling forward as the force of the blow fractured the wall of rock that had been trapping me. I kept up my attack: swinging my blade from side to side, sending slashes of that same energy; he blocked them with minimal effort, but they were enough to keep him still long enough for gravity to do its work. The upper sections of the wall were collapsing, and the rubble fell on top of Aced.

Taking that chance to escape, I ran a short ways in the same direction that I had been heading in before, trying to find Haurchefant again. But looking around in a panic, I couldn’t see him in the crowd anymore. Where was he…?!

At that moment, I heard a rumbling behind me. Beams of light shone through the cracks in the pile of fallen rocks, and with a flash the boulders were sent flying in all directions. In the center of it, Aced stood, looking ragged but almost like he was enjoying himself. He cackled to himself, then threw his head back in mad laughter.

“ _Ahahahaha…!_ Excellent! You’ve passed! You really are a strong one…” But despite his tone of approval, he squeezed the grip of his keyblade with both hands and raised it high above his head. “Which is why you die here! I don’t need a threat like you in my new world!”

Aced slashed downward, the path of his blade marked by a gold line. That line then expanded into what looked like a black rip in space. Time seemed to stand still, even the raindrops around me stopping in midair. At that moment, I felt a sudden pull; the seam expanded, and the vacuum increased in power, pulling me towards it. Uselessly I flailed my arms and tried to dig in my feet, but they were pulled out from underneath me. I hit the ground as Aced’s gravity spell rendered me vulnerable. My heart stopped as, with a gleefully bloodthirsty grin, he readied the killing blow. I flinched, closing my eyes as he swung down—

_“Look out!”_

—I heard the sound of a Reflect spell being raised, and a heavy impact against it. Opening my eyes, standing over me, was—

“Haurchefant…?!”

The knight’s whole body was trembling, his heels digging into the dirt, but his arm didn’t falter. The shield shuddered and hummed from holding back the sheer force of the blow. Through gritted teeth, he yelled, “Nngh, run, my friend…!”

Absolutely not! No way was I leaving him to fight alone! He was my best friend, and we would make it through this together…!

But as I struggled to get to my feet, I heard a sickening sound, like cracking glass. I froze up.

“Another one of Ira’s little soldiers?” Aced growled, bearing down on the shield. “Get. Out. Of. _My!_ **_Way!”_ **

 

**_Shattering._ **

 

Aced’s keyblade sliced the air, through the fading shards of the barrier. With the same force that could destroy boulders and strike craters in the ground, it slammed directly into Haurchefant’s side.

The world fell silent, save for the sound of his breaking bones, wind being forced out of his lungs. Droplets of his blood mingled with the rain as he was knocked off his feet, keyblade sent flying out of his hands, impaling the dirt where it fell. And he landed on his back right beside it, bleeding out and unmoving.

I tried to scream. Tried to call his name. My body moved of its own accord, sprinting over and dropping to my knees next to him. He was in agony, wheezing and choking, coughing up blood.

Frantically, I tried to raise my keyblade with shaking hands, but all strength had seemed to have left my arms. I knew I had a spell to heal him. But I couldn’t, I tried, but it wasn’t working, everything was white noise no no no I couldn’t breathe but I have to cast Cure _I have to save him–!_

“Nngh…” Haurchefant struggled to move, groaning in intense pain. He whispered my name, and I leaned over him. “A-are you, are you alright, my friend…?”

Helpless to do anything else, I pulled him into my arms and took his hand, squeezing it so tight that my grip might have been enough to keep him tethered to this world. “I, I’m right here, Haurche, please just hold on…”

“F-forgive me, I–” More coughing, more blood. Tears formed in his eyes as he looked to me, whispering through soft yet labored gasps, “I-I know, I was reckless, but, but I couldn’t let him… Nngh, couldn’t let him hurt you…”

I yelled out, sobbing, “Don’t say another word!”

“No, no, please, don’t cry… You need to smile…” Gently, tenderly, his hand touched my cheek, making me look at him. Despite everything, his expression was peaceful, even as his eyelids began to close one final time. “Keep your light burning strong…”

I hugged him against my chest, holding him desperately close, his heart to mine. Something in me screamed to save him somehow, crying out, _“No, no, you, you can’t go…”_ Please, stay with me, my best friend, we were supposed to escape together, this can’t be happening, I can’t lose you…

But the brave knight’s eyes fell shut, and his body burst into countless tiny motes of golden light. Finding my arms empty, I could only hug myself and sob as the motes fluttered around me before rising up into the rain before fading out of sight.

Just like that. Haurchefant was gone.

Through the howling of wind, through the fog of disbelief in my head, I heard footsteps scraping the dirt behind me. Aced was going to finish me off. I knew that, but I couldn’t bring myself to move.

 

A whooshing of air and then—

—A clash of metal.

 

Whirling around, standing over me now was a familiar figure in gold-trimmed blue and white robes, his keyblade locked in a struggle against Aced’s. Even in the darkness of the storm, the form of my leader was unmistakable.

Aced’s furious roar echoed like thunder: _“Iraaaaaa!”_

Ira’s voice, normally so calm and sonorous, was burning with a dangerously cold wrath as their steel trembled and shuddered. “We settle this _now.”_

His rival’s scowl was replaced with a savage grin. “I knew killing your followers would draw you here, Ira. You’re the one I want!”

“What? You mean, you…!?”

“When I build my new world, I’ll be the only leader it will need! I won’t suffer anyone to challenge my right as king!”

“Aced, you…! You _freak!”_ Ira spat, so disgusted by his former comrade’s words. “You dare speak of leadership, but you were the traitor all along!”

“I am no traitor!” Aced bellowed back, “I carried out my true role! It was my role, my _right,_ to usurp you should you prove unfit to lead! And that’s exactly what you did! Just as the Master expected you would!”

“Wh-what…?” Ira was audibly shaken by this, but quickly shook his head. “That, that’s a lie!” He gathered his strength and vaulted Aced several yards away onto a tall outcropping. “All of this is _your_ fault! If _you_ hadn’t broken the harmony…!”

“ _Hah!_ Some leader you are, Ira!” Aced jeered, showing his bear-like fangs in a mocking grin. “Blaming others for your failures! It just proves that you were unworthy all along! And you’ll fall here, just like your little soldier!”

“I should have killed you when I had the chance… I won’t make that mistake again.” His keyblade began to glow, and with it he summoned a number of shining javelins of light that surrounded his body. With an upward swing, those javelins were sent into the sky until they arced and rained back down, aiming straight for Aced. It took several backflips for him to evade the javelins, but it managed to put some distance between him and us. Ira paused before he gave chase, looking back to me.

“You’ve come a long way…” His tone quavered, his words hesitant. “And, I’m sorry. Losing a wielder like Haurchefant, it-it’s nothing short of a travesty. You have my word, Aced will pay dearly for all he’s done.”

And with that, Ira leapt into the air, unbound by gravity, chasing after his fellow Foreteller. But something in his words sounded odd to me. Did he truly think that Aced was the only Foreteller responsible for this and everything that went wrong before now? But this war wasn’t Ursus standing alone against the other four Unions. Every army but your own was fair game. Why did all five of the Foretellers declare all other Unions to be the enemy if it was only Aced’s actions that caused the situation to escalate…?

The Foretellers…

It wasn’t just Aced, it was all of them. The reason we wielders were dying was because these five people couldn’t get along. The tensions between them carried down to the Unions they commanded. Ever since that day…

That day when me, Skuld, and everyone else saw Aced and Invi fighting furiously on the rooftops. And that same battle drew the attention of the other three Foretellers. Aced and Gula were injured. Ira was seen helping Aced, and Ava helping Gula in the aftermath. But the damage wasn’t limited to the five. Houses and entire streets were decimated by their fighting. So many wielders were forced to quit; their families started seeing the Unions no longer as harmless extracurricular activities, but as violent gangs. Looking back on it now, they were probably right…

And things only got more polarized from there. Arguments about what happened broke out between members of every Union. They each suspected the other of turning to darkness; arguments escalated into fights, and everything only got worse. People see their leaders fighting and trying to kill one another, of course that has an effect.

To varying degrees, all five of the Unions were responsible. For all these deaths, for Haurchefant…

I remembered. That day in the clock tower, when I thought Ira had killed Ephemer… My own words echoed in my head.

 

_“You took him away from me. I feel sad, I feel angry, I feel hurt. Maybe that means I have darkness in my heart; I don’t care. But I can’t let you get away with what you did to my friend. Even if I have to fight you, even if I don’t stand a chance, even if I may disappear… I will because I know in my heart that he would do the same if he were here.”_

 

I was short of breath. My heart was racing out of control. But I clenched my fists and my teeth, kneeling before Haurchefant’s keyblade as it stood upright in the dirt.

Most wielders just used _Starlight,_ but Haurchefant had a keyblade custom-made for him. Almost exactly resembling a normal sword, shining like silver, but the blade was wreathed in thorns, and with the figure of a unicorn head forming the ‘teeth’ of the keyblade. _D’argent,_ he called it, Bequeathed to him by Master Ira himself. No way was I going to let it—let _him_ — rust away in the dirt like this.

“Not yet…”

I’d make sure they _knew_ who was responsible for all of this.

I stood up, and grasped the handle of _D’argent_. The keyblade remained in my hand, not rejecting me. It wanted to avenge its wielder just as I did. With both his blade and mine in hand, I charged.

Running into the fray, I ignored the other battles. I only searched for the people with a mask and a hood. I needed to make them pay.

 

And I didn’t need to look for very long. Right in front of me, was a tall and slender woman with blue robes. She stood still, untouched by the battles, but clearly very much affected by them. Wind lashing at her scarves, rain indistinguishable from tears, Invi noticed me standing there, and her lip began quivering.

“Oh… I… I’m, I’m so sorry…” She bowed her head, unable to look directly at me. “You, all of you who got dragged into this… I’ll at least make it as painless as I can…”

Her shoulders sagged as she stood motionless, not even raising her keyblade in a battle stance. Apologetic as she was, she was still intent on killing me. I was going to take my opportunity to attack. With a yell, I brandished both _Starlight_ and _D’argent_ and lunged forward, swinging wildly at her, dark streaks following each arc of the blades.

Invi just managed to sidestep every strike before blocking the final one. She pushed me back and readied her own attack; hovering in the air, she summoned four glowing orbs, each a different color: red, green, blue, and yellow. That was the only warning before she began slashing each orb, and unleashing an assault of elemental magic on me. In quick succession, a scorching blast of fire, a disorienting gust of wind, a biting chill of icicles, and a surging charge of lightning.

My knees buckled and I nearly collapsed from the onslaught, gasping for breath. Invi recoiled in shock, not expecting me to have survived her attack. It hurt to breathe, but here was my chance. Gritting through the pain, I raised my blades to the sky and called down several projectiles from the clouds: shining star-shaped comets with sparkling multicolored tails, dropping down atop Invi like meteors.

I lost sight of her as they landed, exploding upon impact with the ground; squinting through the dust clouds, I saw her. She’d evaded the meteors, but only just. She was panting from the exertion, and I noticed tears on the hem of her robes that hadn’t been there before. That seemed to be her indication that I wouldn’t die so easily; upon realizing that, she relented. “H-ha, haha… You’re strong. Ira trained you well.” She gave me a weak smile and de-summoned her keyblade, turning her back to me. “Live on, then. Live a long and happy life. And, again… I’m sorry. Some mediator I turned out to be…”

Invi walked away and disappeared into the crowd. As much as I wanted to give chase and say I wasn’t done with her yet, my legs wouldn’t obey me. My vision fuzzed, and I stumbled, legs shaking. But looking up to the sky, seeing all the disembodied hearts… I couldn’t give up.

 

I got back up, turning my focus back to the battlefield, I jolted in surprise to see a short boy in yellow robes walking straight towards me. Gula, with his keyblade resting on his shoulder, kept his face upturned and watching the sky. As if he were expecting something.

Holding my keyblades ready, I called out to him, “Master Gula!”

Gula looked surprised to see me; he must have recognized me, from our brief encounter in the warehouse not long ago. “Oh, hey, it’s you,” He noted, rather casually, “You’re looking kinda beaten up. Are you okay?”

Of course I wasn’t. But I nodded my head ‘yes’ anyway.

“Then does that mean you’re okay to fight?”

“What…?”

The leopard-masked Foreteller brandished his spiked keyblade in my direction. In his usual cool-headed and matter-of-fact manner, he stated, “This _is_ a war, after all.”

Well. Alright, then.

Gula was detached from what was happening around him, and it showed. He just stood there, casually and one-handedly tossing his keyblade in the air, catching it effortlessly when it came back down. Like he was bored.

Feeling a hot flash of anger, I took the chance to get the first move. I spun _Starlight_ and _D’argent_ in my hands and clashed them together. Their motions formed an X-shaped mass of energy that I launched towards Gula.

But before the attack could land, he leapt backwards and vanished. Before I had any time to react, he sped right past me, then on my other side, behind me, below me, above, everywhere, before I stabbed both of my keyblades into the ground and summoned fourteen swords of opaque light to circle around my body; with a _clang_ one of them deflected Gula’s next strike. Giving him no time for recovery, the sword that he clashed with pushed him away. With a battle cry, I swung _Starlight_ forward and sent seven of the blades hurtling towards the Foreteller. He managed to evade all save one; one blade of light pierced his cape and trapped him in place. I glimpsed a bit of real panic on his face before I swung down _D’argent_ , sending down the remaining seven blades. With a desperate pull at his cape, it ripped against the blade trapping him, and managed to warp away just in time to avoid getting impaled.

He rolled back into my view, the landing knocking the leopard mask off of his face. Immediately retrieving it before I could see anything, he panted as he got back up, leaning on his keyblade for support. Looking back to me, he was smiling. “Haha, wow, you’re, ha, you’re actually pretty tough. There’s still something I have to do, so I’ll need to save my effort. Let’s call it a draw.” Gula dissipated his keyblade, signaling that he no longer wanted to fight. He turned his back to me, trusting that I wouldn’t try to kill him again. “For what it’s worth, I hope you don’t die. Seeya around, maybe.”

It was then that I actually looked down at myself: and somehow I only then noticed the innumerable tiny cuts that he’d inflicted, only just breaking skin, but all bleeding and pulsing with pain. Immediately I felt lightheaded, dizzy, weak…

But I heard the sound of metal piercing the dirt. All around me, now-ownerless keyblades fell from the sky. I remembered Haurchefant’s last words. To keep my light burning strong. I had to stay alive… For him… Even if was only to see this world’s ending, I would see it through.

 

I staggered back up to my feet, and I saw her. Her small frame, clad in gold-trimmed pink robes flapping in the harsh gales, and a fox mask with matching ears. She had her back to me, but she was unmistakable.

“Master Ava!”

She turned to me and at once I felt a chill. She looked… _broken._ Standing limply against the wind and rain, barely holding onto her keyblade, she stood as if there were nothing but strings holding her up. Like a puppet playing her part, resigned to her fate…

In the visible part of her face, I could discern no emotion. She only noted my presence, and intoned, “It’s you…”

“I was looking for you,” I said, staring her down.

Something was wrong. Even though Ava had come to terms with what would happen, I could feel something dark, something frightening within her heart, eating away at her. At once remembered what I heard about her only days ago; Gula had said she was searching for her former comrade. The secret sixth apprentice, the one who hadn’t received a Book of Prophecies. Luxu…

Neither of us said anything for a long moment, as the clamor of the war around us seemed to disappear, drowned out by the raging storm.

I tried to speak up again. “What are you doing here, Master Ava?” She remained silent. “Did you find Luxu? What did he say–?”

Ava gnashed her teeth at the question, and before I knew what was happening, her keyblade was pointed inches away from my face. “Prepare yourself.”

That was her only warning before she raised her blade and slashed downward. On instinct I was able to block her in time, but the shock was worse than the attack itself. Even though I couldn’t see her eyes, I felt them boring a hole into me.

With a push I managed to put some distance between us. I didn’t understand; even when we’d fought before, she was never so hostile. And even beyond what I’d seen of her myself, she was supposedly the kindest and most approachable of the five Foretellers. What could have happened to her since then?! “Wh-what, what are you doing…? Why are you–”

“I SAID TO PREPARE YOURSELF!”

At that moment, Ava swung her arms outward, and split into seven copies of herself. With a flash they vanished, and with another flash they surrounded me. In unison they lunged forward and slashed me in seven different places, leaving open huge gashes all over my body. Everything was pain, and I screamed aloud. The clones all vanished in a shower of petals and reformed into the real Ava in front of me.

My vision blurred. All the injuries I’d sustained, I felt them catching up to me. After all the harrowing battles, I couldn’t find the strength to fight back. Dropping to my hands and knees, struggling to breathe, I looked up to the Foreteller, tears streaming and eyes pleading.

“W-why…?”

She tensed, her fists clenched and trembling before she shook her head with a sigh. “There are some secrets you can’t ever know…”

_What did Luxu say to you…?_

Kneeling down to me, Ava softly cupped my face and tilted my head up so she could meet my gaze. Her voice barely above a whisper, she begged of me: “Please, run. Fly away with the Dandelions while you still can.”

Ava stood back up, giving me one last pitying look, and walked away. The image of her back got farther and farther away, until it disappeared.

“Master… Ava…”

I tried to get back to my feet. But I couldn’t tell if it was the rumbling of the ground or my own blood loss that kept me from steadying myself. The last of my strength slipped away; _Starlight_ and _D’argent_ dropped out of my hands and dematerialized. I couldn’t fight anymore. Just, needed to rest…

I fell to the ground, and didn’t get up.

 

_I'd thought the end would be a horrific scene where the whole world burned away to nothing._

 

But here I was, laying in the mud and in my own blood, watching the uncountable number of hearts rise against the pouring rain. The battle had ravaged these already desolate wastelands. But by the time I came to, it had stopped. No more blasts or clanging of weapons. No noise but the rain falling. No sign of life other than me.

Just thousands of broken keyblades littering the ground, and thousands of broken hearts in the sky.

All those hearts up there, floating away into nothingness… Artoirel’s, Emmanellain’s, Haurchefant’s, even the Foretellers… When there was nothing left of you but a heart and a keyblade in the ground, there was no way to tell who you were, or which Union you belonged to.

I was gonna die here too, wasn’t I. The life I had before, there was no way to get it back.

I thought of Ephemer and Skuld. If I had never met them, I wondered what my everyday life might have been like. Never making friends outside of my Union, never expanding my horizons, I might never have questioned anything that Master Ira had told me. They changed my life. And now I’d never see them again. I’ll be gone while they and the other Dandelions live on. And everyone in Daybreak Town who I passed by on missions, I’d never see them again either.

I closed my eyes, and the image of a girl came to my mind; I kept seeing her around on missions, and I started recognizing her white clothes, her long ginger hair, her shy and gentle manner… I’d always meant to say ‘hello’ to her, but never got the chance. And now I never will.

The friends I’d made in the other worlds, too; I knew in my head that they were just projections from the Book of Prophecies and were from years, maybe centuries in the future. But despite that, I still enjoyed the time I spent with them, and still thought of them as my friends. Snow White, Alice, Aladdin, Hercules, Cinderella, Beast, Belle… If this really was the end of everything, then there wouldn’t even be a future for them to be born into…

So then everything really was lost…

I felt the soft touch of a tiny paw on my forehead. Opening my eyes, there was a familiar little cat-like critter next to me; the same one who had been by my side ever since the day my journey began. “Chirithy…” That’s right, I had forgotten. When a wielder dies, so does their Chirithy… And mine climbed onto my chest, offering what comfort he could.  

 _“It’s all right,”_ the little spirit soothed as he nuzzled against me, _“You’ve done enough.”_

Well… If Chirithy’s here, then at least I won’t be alone. I hugged him close with a smile, and waited for the end to come…

 

… The rain stopped.

 

The wind picked up again, and a sudden brightness burned my eyelids. Raising my hand to shield my vision, I still had to squint to see what was above me. The clouds swirled about, parting to reveal a blinding light shining over everything. It was––

A shining moon in the sky, in the shape of the heart. At once I understood. This was the great light that protected our land. Kingdom Hearts.

All the world was painfully bright, and that light was breaking into tiny motes, floating off into the sky. The countless disembodied hearts of the wielders, they changed their course, gravitating towards the moon. Was Kingdom Hearts absorbing all the hearts of the keyblade wielders killed in this war? Those who died with hearts filled with despair, terror, grief, rage, sorrow, guilt… The source of all light, absorbing all those dark feelings… What would that do to it? Is this why the world was ending…?

But I didn’t even notice that Chirithy had jumped off my chest, and was now shaking my arm to get my attention.

_“Look, over there!”_

Turning to my side, squinting through a path left by the fallen keys in this vast field… I did see someone. The silhouette of a girl in the distance. I couldn’t see her clearly… An angel? A goddess…? “Is it my time…?”

She hurried to me. I faintly saw long, dark hair, and heard belt buckles jingling lightly, and suddenly it clicked in my head. I smiled. She said she didn’t want me to fight, but I came here anyway. I guess she wouldn’t take no for an answer. She came back for me. “Skuld…”

She slid down to her knees beside me. Breathing out my name as a sigh of relief, she smiled down at me. “Oh, thank goodness,” she whispered, “We made it in time…”

I blinked, confused. “‘We’…?”

With a smile, Skuld stepped back, revealing another figure behind her, walking up and kneeling at my side. I held my breath. Dandelion seeds began to flutter up from the ground. Haloed by the light of Kingdom Hearts in the sky, was the one I had wanted so desperately to see that day I spent waiting at Fountain Square, and every day since then.

“E-Ephemer…” His face came into focus: the unruly silver mop on his head, the kind blue eyes, the sweet smile, happy to see me too… After all this time worrying about him, seeing him now broke the dam. With a long wail, I pulled him down into a hug, letting out all my tears on his shoulder.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” He said, returning my hug. “You’re gonna be fine now. We weren’t gonna leave you behind…”

I almost laughed. Saying that, even after he did leave me behind once; disappearing into the Daybreak Town clock tower by himself when we agreed to sneak in together, then not showing up the next day… But he came back now, when it mattered most. I couldn’t find it in my heart to hold it against him. Prodding him with a reminder, I said, _“We made… A promise…”_

Ephemer pulled away from the hug, his smile sad and apologetic. _“I didn’t forget.”_

Weakly, I smiled back. _“You’re late…”_

 _“I know, I’m sorry.”_ He got up, and offered his hand to help me back to my feet.

 

_“We’ll go together.”_

 

I reached for his hand, and I knew that with him, Skuld, and Chirithy… Somehow, things would be all right again.


	3. Epilogue- RECONNECT

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A key bearer wakes up in a new world.

_ When you awaken, what kind of world will you see? _

_ Will the world reflected in your eyes be the world you wished for…? _

_ The one to decide that will be you. _

 

The light surrounded me, suspended me, sustained me. I was being welcomed into its warmth as my body seemed to hover in space. All my pain lifted away, all my wounds healing, granting sweet relief. A hand was outstretched to me, and I lifted my own to take it.

“Ephemer… Skuld…”

And then…

… I wake up.

 

My eyes flew open, and my vision filled with a sunny blue sky, bordered by vibrant green leaves of the trees. I blink a few times, my sleep-addled mind trying to get its bearings. The most I could get out was a tired groan of, “What happened…?”

Somehow, without me remembering how I’d gotten there, I’d fallen asleep in the middle of a lush, beautiful forest in an unfamiliar world. I yawned, and felt a weight on my chest; looking down, there was Chirithy, snuggled up on top of me.  _ Awww. _ Smiling, I pet the back of his fuzzy little head on instinct. But the contact was enough to wake him up. His thread-like eyes ‘opened,’ blinking in the light, and looked at me. Chirithy stood up, adjusting his cape and pouch, and hopped off of me. I sat up and looked around.

This definitely wasn’t the forest of a world that I knew. Looking at myself, I was clad in red armor that I definitely don’t remember ever acquiring. And just to be sure, I touched a finger to my pulse. I wasn't dead, at least. But my heart was beating so quickly, and I had no idea why. None of this was helping the overall confusion. “Uh…”

Chirithy yawned while stretching when he noticed me looking around, bleary and bewildered. He asked, “Were you dreaming again?”

“Dreaming…?” I repeated, unsure of what he meant. 

“It seems like you’ve been dreaming a lot since that day. Are you feeling alright?”

I rub the sleep out of my eyes, realizing with some shame that I didn’t even remember what happened for the last several days. Blacking out, passing out in the grass, this isn’t like me… I yawn again, “Whaaat day was that again…?”

Chirithy waved his stubby little arms. “I mean the day Master Ava invited you to join the Dandelions, and we talked with Skuld in the Fountain Square. Ever since then, you’ve been having some weird dreams.”

“Oh, really?” That’s right. Somehow, that’s the last thing I remember, but at the same time it feels like it happened weeks, or even months ago… “But, how did I wind up asleep here…?”

Chirithy hopped in place as he presented his theory. “Hmm, well… things have been pretty hectic lately, so it’s no surprise you’re tired out. Maybe you just needed a change of scenery by visiting a new world? I’d say you could use a break every now and then.”

That much made sense, at least. Stretching out and popping my joints, I stood up and followed Chirithy as he hopped away, scouting a path through the forest. Even as confused as I was about how I got here, that did nothing to detract from this new mystery world’s beauty. So lush and vibrant, like walking around within the frame of a painting that had become real. I could enjoy a nice walk through such an enchanting dominion…

“Whoa…”

Chirithy was ahead of me, staring up in awe at an imposing wall of impassable black thorns. For several seconds I could only gawp at how…  _ obvious  _ it was. My whole job as a wielder was to expose and fight the forces of darkness, and few things quite screamed ‘DARK FORCES AT WORK’ like giant, ominous black thorns. I went closer, and peered through the gaps in the thorns to try to see through to the other side. Nothing.

“If this isn’t an effective ‘keep out’ sign, I dunno what is,” Chirithy commented. Waving me away from the thorns, he went on, “Let’s head home for now. We can explore this world some other time.”

Well, it wasn’t like these thorns would be going anywhere. As tired as I was, trying to pick a fight with whatever dark being created them would be a bad idea. I nodded, and then Chirithy looked up. In confusion I followed his gaze, just in time to watch a raven high above our heads, flying over the forest of thorns and disappearing.

“Must be nice, having wings,” the little spirit mused. “Well, time to go.”

 

I went through the usual motions: pointing my keyblade in front of me, summoning a portal through the Lanes Between, walk through, be back in Daybreak Town. 

But as soon as I entered Fountain Square, something seemed off. 

The place was empty. Seeing the clock tower, it was about one in the afternoon. The streets should be bustling at this time of the day, but there weren’t even any regular civilians walking around. The only shopkeeper I saw was Mog the Moogle, selling his medals–Wait, medals? I could have sworn he sold cards…

I did see a few people passing by on my way home to the Unicornis dormitory, but not nearly as many as I should have. Looking around the ground floor of the dorms, I started worrying. Usually at this time of day, the building’s mess hall was full of wielders eating their lunch. But today it was deserted. What was going on? Was Ira holding an assembly or something?

My stomach growled. Maybe get something to eat first. Making my way over to kitchen, I check the icebox; milk, fresh cream, eggs, the usual…  And checking the pantry, it was mostly just stuff for baking. And a lot of sea salt and hot chocolate mix. 

Instinctively I smiled at the sight of those two ingredients together; as weird as my memory had been lately, I could never forget the taste of sea salt hot chocolate after every mission, drinking it with my party as we watched the sunset—

Wait… 

… My party?

What was going on? I could have sworn that I was in a party, and I knew that I wasn’t the only member. There must have been at least a few others. But I was drawing a blank on all of them. How could I be in a party and not know anyone in it…? I must have at least spoken with the party leader when I joined up––

At that moment, a sharp pain shot through my head, like my head was full of static. But even as I held my temples trying to steady myself against the sudden headache, I strained in a vain attempt to grasp at the memory I was reaching for. I knew there was someone in that party who I was close with. Someone really important to me. So why couldn’t I remember his face? Or his name?

_ “My dearest friend…” _

I looked up, and there I saw a familiar yet unfamiliar someone in front of me. A boy standing tall, a little bit older than me. Solemn, ocean-blue eyes. Light blue hair like the daybreak sky.  He looked at me with an expression full of sadness, then turned to walk away slowly. But even though I didn’t know who he was, I didn't want him to go. I moved to follow him, but I blinked, and he was gone. In that deathly silent room, I clutched my chest, feeling a sudden pang of sadness in my heart… 

“Hey, what’s wrong?” I blinked, and saw that Chirithy had hopped up onto a counter to reach my eye level, looking distraught at my sudden headache. “You’re crying…”

“I am?” I touched my fingers to my face, and felt tears. Without even realizing it, I was crying. “Oh… It’s weird. It feels like I’m forgetting something really important…”

Chirithy seemed to cringe, looking away as if in shame. He didn’t say anything else, and neither did I. There was this sinking feeling in my gut as I hastily wiped away the tears. Something was wrong.

What kind of world was this? What did I wake up to…?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading! (I know this epilogue is confusing as heck, considering that Union Cross isn't over yet. But the plot point with Haurchefant and the Warrior of Light/Player will be resolved in a future fic.)


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